Idle Conversation
by Jim Handy
Summary: Three of the Endless. Three of the Serenity's crew. Three conversations.
1. Destruction

All characters belong to Joss Whedon and Neil Gaiman. I'm just playing around for a bit.

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"Fool."

Simon spun around, his breath coming out in a gasp and his heart beating double time. He grabbed the pistol lying on his bed and pointed it directly at whoever had somehow found his hideout and broken in, to utter that word in such a sardonic tone of voice.

The room wasn't all that large, just a cubbyhole in a low-rent apartment complex on Londinium. There was room for a bed, his supplies, and a small closet for food and water, but little else. Nevertheless, the huge red - haired man standing behind the small counter and grinning at him seemed to take up less room than Simon himself. He wondered in the back of his head how the room seemed to literally bend out of its way for his mysterious visitor, but he had more important concerns at hand. "How..how did you find me?"

"Relax, boy." Unfolding his arms and leaning back against the refrigerator, the other man smiled and asked him "So how are the plans proceeding, Tam? Your little Mei-mei almost free, or did you just hit another snag?"

Simon's finger twitched on the trigger. "I swear to God, if you tell anyone what I aim to do, I will make you pay. Somehow."

"I don't doubt that. But I bet your friends and family would. You're the good son, aren't you? The pride of the family, the genius doctor, the good and honorable young man. You've never really done anything truly illegal in your life, have you?"

Despite the situation, Simon chuckled a little. "Well, there was what Valerie talked me into on our graduation night..."

His visitor waved this aside impatiently. "You know what I mean. Harmless pranks are one thing, but this..Simon, have you thought about how much chaos this little Robin Hood stunt of yours is going to cause? Your family is going to be devastated. How do you think your parents will cope with having a traitor son. Not to mention the inquiries afterwards by the Alliance, the political damage, the social implications alone..."

"If they're willing to stand by and watch as their daughter gets turned into a human guinea pig, they don't deserve their respect and influence." It came out harsher than Simon had intended, but was no less heartfelt.

The read haired man snorted. "Let's not get into how much your parents know right now. Let's talk about the Alliance in general. If you do this, there is no going back. Your sister is an important asset, and you know how the military can get when someone meddles with their assets. You and your sister are likely going to have to spend the rest of your lives on the Rim, and even then, you won't be safe. Not really. You're destroying your ties to your family, your home, the society you grew up in. You have that in you. Now all you have to do is admit that to yourself. Which is what's really holding you up."

Simon was tempted to ask how his guest would go about saving a young girl from a maximum security military instillation, but decided that he wouldn't like the answer. Instead he replied, strain showing in his voice, "This is a difficult task. I have to make sure everything is in place, and that my disguise is impeccable. Getting myself caught wouldn't do me or River any good. And I know what this will cause. I've been planning this for quite some time."

"Now, you don't." The strange man suddenly changed from amused to grave, his eyes fixing on Simon. "You can plan it out in your mind, but you can't really wrap your head around the fact that the chaos, the cutting of ties, the catastrophic changes, are all your fault. And that's keeping you from taking that one final step. Ask yourself if you're ready for this, Simon Tam. Ask yourself if you can cause as much destruction as you must. Take it from me, it's important to know the difference between what you want to be and what you are. Because if you can't, you and River are going to wind up dead..or worse."

And between one blink and the next, he was gone.

Simon stared for a seemingly eternal instant, then shook himself. Dream or vision or whatever this had been, he was to busy to dwell on it. River was waiting for him.


	2. Dream

The minute Zoe felt her eyes opening, she knew it was a dream.

This was pretty strange in and of itself; even during the last few days of the war, when sleep had been scarce and the fears many, she couldn't remember any of her dreams. She'd just never seemed to have them, or if she did, they vanished when she woke up.

This time, however, she was pretty sure she was dreaming. At least it was a nice dream; she could feel the warm sand against her back, and just a few feet away, a blue - green sea stretched off towards the horizon. There were seagulls wheeling in the air, adding their cries to the dull roar of the tides. The sky was blue, and fluffy clouds drifted by slowly. She stretched, and wondered how long she'd get to enjoy this. Wash usually twisted and moaned in his sleep, but that rarely woke her up, so she should have a decent night's sleep unless whoever was on watch dragged them out of bed at some ungodly hour. Heaven have mercy on whichever member of the crew had that wretched duty. Wash might get away with it, but she'd need persuading. Refusing to think about late night emergencies any longer than necessary, she carefully laid down and closed her eyes, letting the warmth of the sand and the slow ripple of the tides lull her into a strange half - doze.

She felt a shadow come over her, and instinctively rolled over and leapt up into a battle ready crouch.

That just seemed to amuse the tall, pale, black haired man who stood before her. His height and pale skin aside, he seemed utterly normal and forgettable, dressed in boring black civvies and black boots. Normal and forgettable, except for his eyes. They shone like distant stars in the black pits where his eyes should have been, and Zoe got the uncomfortable feeling that if she looked hard enough, she would see her entire world contained in those two shining points of light. Shaking her head, she asked warily, "And you'd be the tall, dark, mysterious stranger, right? How the hell did you get into _my _dream, of all things?"

"You are not afraid." It was a statement, not a question, and as he said it a raven flew down and perched on his shoulder. She might have heard it bark something like "showing off", but she was too far away to hear. "That is good. So many people react to the unknown with mindless fear, not with cool reason. To answer your question, I have had to many names to count, but it pleases me this night to be known as Morpheus. And may I ask you a question, Zoe Alleyne Washburn? Why do you dream of such a peaceful place?"

Puzzled, she tilted her head sideways to stare at him from the corner of her eye. Mal had always teased her for doing that. "Why do you ask? Who doesn't want a nice relaxing day at the beach?"

The black haired man shook his head, and motioned for her to follow as he turned and walked away. Curious, Zoe followed. Leading her to the Serenity's mess hall, he sat down at one of the tables and looked her square in the eye, saying "You, Zoe, are not like other people."

Zoe snorted. "Tell me about it." Absently, she curled her hands around a cup of hot tea. The warmth soothed her and helped her concentrate. "Got a greater passion for lost causes than most folks. But why are you so interested, Mystery Man? What makes my dreams so special?"

He took a long time to answer, stroking the raven on his shoulder and looking at the bulkhead behind her. At last, he said "You have not had many dreams for a long time. I had almost given up on seeing you here at all. And now, these few recent years, you have begun to dream again. I find myself wondering, why the sudden change?"

And just like that, they were sitting in her and Wash's cabin. Wash was still sprawled out like a rag doll, turning and muttering to himself and rumpling the sheets. Zoe found herself smiling fondly, and had to repress the urge to comb some of his untidy hair out of his eyes. "There's your answer, I guess."

"But you want more, do you not? You want even more assurance, even more anchors for your life, more things to come back to. Is he willing to give these things to you?"

"I'd like to think so." Her voice was more doubtful than she would've liked, but she continued on, determined to be right. "He needs time to get used to the idea, is all."

"And if he does not?" There was a silence between them then, broken only when the stranger reached across and took her hand. His touch was gentle. "Dreams can lift a person higher than the stars, or drive them into the hard earth. Do you think this one is worth pursuing, even if you could easily fail?"

She looked at Wash for a long time. Then she sighed and turned to look the visitor right in his shiny eyes. "Yeah. I think it's worth it. More than worth it."

A smile tugged the corner of his lips. He looked pleased. "Very good."

When she woke up the next morning, she'd be damned if she could remember what she'd dreamed.


End file.
